Door-fastener.



E. JVWIRFS. DOOR PASTENER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 191s.

' Patented June 16, 1914.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH Ca., WASHINGTON D c UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEErcE.

EDWARD J. vIRFS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DOOR-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent. jatnted June 16, 1914.

Application tiled August 4, 1913. Serial No. 782,870.

vided with a head 9, which is secured by a key 10, or other suitable means, to the rock shaft 6. The latch handle head contains an annular recess 11, extending thereinto from its rear end, and which loosely encircles the barrel 5, thereby providing for the rotation of the latch handle head around said barrel when rotating the rock shaft 6.

To provide for ease of operation of the handle head 9 around the barrel 5, I inter pose between the outer end of said barrel and the handle head an antifriction end thrust bearing 12, preferably of ball bearing type.

18 designates a coil spring arranged in the barrel 5, the said spring having one of its ends secured to the rock lshaft 6 in a suitable manner, such as by its introduction into a slot 6 in the shaft, and its other end secured to the barrel 5 by suitable means, such as a pin 14:, (see Figs. II and III).

The latch handle head 9 carries a latch arm 15, which is of sufficient length to eX- tend to the keeper 1 when the door B is closed, and this latch arm carries an antifriction roller 16, which is adapted to ride into engagement with the keeper 1 and become seated therein, as seen in Figs. I and IV. The head 9 of the latch handle is provided at its periphery with a stop arm 17, adapted to engage a stop 18 on the plate 4 to limit the downward movement of the latch arm 15 under influence of the spring` 13, in order that when the door B is open, the latch arm will be upheld to a suflicient degree to provide for the engagement of the antifriction roller 16 with the inclined arm 2 of the keeper 1 upon closure of the door.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the spring 13 within the barrel 7 and connected to the barrel and rock shaft 6 tends to rotate said rock shaft and, as a com sequence, the latch arm 15 is yieldingly held in a lowered position, as permitted by the stop arm 17 on said head, and the stop 18 to which said stop arm is movable. When the door equipped with the described fastening devices is closed, it is unnecessary to operate the latch handle 8 for the purpose of seating the latch arm 15 in the keeper 1, as pressure against the door will cause the antifriction roller 16 to ride upwardly on the inclined arm 2 of the keeper 1, and said roller will then ride downwardly upon the rearwardly inclined front wall of the pocket in the keeper, being forced downwardly there- To all 'whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. IVIRFS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a door fastener designed more especially for use upon refrigerators, the invention having for its object the production of a fastener of this kind which is automatic in its action in imparting the final movement to the door when the latter is approaching the door receiving seat of the refrigerator, or other object equipped with the door, and serv-es to hold the door tightly closed.

Figure I is a front elevation of my door fastener and fragments of a door and the wall of an object to which the door is hinged. Fig. II is a vertical section taken on line II-II, Fig. I. Fig. III is a cross section taken on line IIL-III, Fig. II. Fig. IV is a side elevation of the keeper of my door fastener, and the end of the latch arm which engages said keeper.

In the drawings: A designates the wall of a refrigerator, and B the refrigerator door, movable to close a doorway in the refrigerator.

1 designates a keeper secured to the refrigerator wall adjacent to the doorway therein, this keeper comprising an inclined arm 2 at its outer end, and a pocket back of said inclined arm having a front wall 8, which is inclined downwardly and backwardly from the upper inner end of the inclined keeper arm 2.

4 designates a plate secured to the door B at its outer side, the said plate being provided with a forwardly projecting barrel 5, which contains a central aperture, as seen in Fig. II. "Ihe door B is provided with an aperture in alinement with the aperture in the barrel, and these alined apertures receive a rock shaft 6, which extends outwardly beyond the barrel 5, and also inwardly beyond the inner side of the door, the shaft having fitted to it at its inner end an operating handle 7 for which no invention is herein claimed.

8 designates a latch handle at the outer side of the door B, this handle being proagainst due to the action of the spring 13 the barrel, a coil spring surrounding the upon the head 9, and, consequently, upon shaft, having its inner end secured to the the latch arm 15. As the roller so moves shaft and moans securing its outer end to 15 `against the Wall 3, the door B is forced inthe barrel, and to the plate, a latch con- 5 Wardly, and finally positioned against the structed with a handle and a head having door receiving seat of the Wall A. an aperture receiving the barrel, and means I clain1:- A securing the latch-handle to the shaft.

A door fastener eoinprisino' a plate con- L strueted with a forwardly probjecting barrel, EDXVRD J VVIRFS' lo and a central aperture and adapted to be l In the presence ofsecured to a door, a rock-shaft extending E. CLARK, through the central aperture and through l E. B. LINN.

Copies of 'this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

